Fall Film and Lecture Series offers array of timely topics
The Modesto Junior College Civic Engagement Project invites the campus and community
to the free Fall Film and Lecture Series. This line-up of Thursday evening presentations
include a lecture on water in the valley, a continuing community discussion race relations
and four documentary films on thought provoking and timely topics.
Each event begins at 7 p.m. and are held in Forum 110 on East Campus, with the exception
of the November 3 discussion, which will be held in the Student Center Cafeteria on
East Campus. Following each lecture and film there will be an opportunity for questions
and discussion. Please join us for the following events:
Water in the Central Valley: Lloyd Carter Lecture -- October 6
Lloyd Carter has worked for decades as a reporter specializing in water issues. He has written for United Press International and The Fresno Bee, and he has also taught water law at San Joaquin College of Law. Currently, he serves as President of the California Save Our Streams Council and hosts a monthly radio show on environmental issues. Carter claims that Central Valley industrial agriculture has enriched some people but has ruined air quality, killed rivers, polluted drinking water aquifers, nearly annihilated the Delta, and has destroyed one of Mother Nature's rarest creations, an inland desert marsh.
Code: Debugging the Gender Gap -- October 20
Who gets hired at high-tech companies like Google, Apple, and Facebook? This
documentary reveals significant gaps in diversity at such places
and focuses on an important question: if the work of computer scientists drives
our future but lacks diverse input, what can be done
to bridge the digital divide and make the fertile fields of Silicon Valley
more inviting for women and under-represented minorities? The
discussion following the film will include guest speakers Dr. Viji Sundar,
Professor of Mathematics at Stan State, and John Zamora, Professor of
Computer Science at MJC.
Black in America: A Continuing Conversation -- November 3 (Student Center Cafeteria on East Campus)
Based on a number of questions from the audience at last semester's event, this event will look more deeply into the problems between law enforcement and diverse communities by focusing on historical and cultural factors that impact current tensions. Guest speakers from both law enforcement and the community will share research-based historical and cultural information and allow for audience discussion throughout the event in small groups with trained dialogue facilitators.
Drone -- November 17
The use of military drones has become one the biggest controversies in modern warfare, and this film takes a critical look at the issue from a number of angles, arguing that drones have come to represent a new kind of battlefield, where civilians in strike zones live in constant fear but can seem like little more than pixels in a video game to those carrying out remote-controlled attacks.
Paper Tigers -- December 1
This documentary follows the lives of students and staff at an alternative high school that has changed its approach and has become an inspiration for other institutions. The school embraced a less punitive and more supportive way of serving its students after it gained new insights about adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)—such as physical, emotional, or sexual abuse—and the effects these traumatic events can have on a student's education.
For more information on MJC's Civic Engagement Project or the Fall Film and Lecture Series, contact Jason Wohlstadter, professor of English, at wohlstadterj@mjc.edu.